Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Despite a team-best 18 points from sophomore Mike Gelineau and season-high-tying 16 points by senior captain Musa Elsir, the Western New England University men's basketball team couldn't get on track in a 72-63 loss at the hands of Commonwealth Coast Conference leader Nichols College on Thursday at the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house. The visiting Bison improve to 8-4 overall and remain unbeaten in the CCC at 5-0, while the Golden Bears fall to 3-8 on the season and 1-3 in the conference.

Nichols' Irving Eggleston led all scorers with 29 points on 12 of 20 shooting from the floor before fouling out with 2 minutes and 23 seconds left in the game. Matt Langadas added 17 points to become the 25th Bison to eclipse 1,000 career points, surpassing the milestone on a trey from the left elbow with 12:31 left in the contest.

The Bison took advantage of an off-shooting night for the Golden Bears, who were 21 of 56 for a .375 field goal percentage. Nichols went 27-for-54 for 50.0 percent from the floor, and forced 16 WNE turnovers that resulted in 16 transition points.

The game opened with both teams getting acclimated until freshman Nelson Zayas (7 points) made a layup on the fastbreak to put WNE up 2-0 at the 18:21 mark. After junior Zack Askew converted a layup for the Golden Bears' last lead at 4-3, Eggleston had one of his own to put the Bison ahead for good. Nichols held WNE to 31.0 percent shooting to take a 29-20 advantage at halftime.

In the second half, Nichols scored the first four points by Christian Horton (10 points) on a layup and Joe Gallant (4 points, 9 rebounds, 4 blocked shots) on another layup to seize a 33-20 lead. The Bison eventually built a 19-point cushion, 55-36 with 9:49 remaining, before WNE made things interesting.

The Golden Bears didn't quit and got back to within seven points on a couple of occasions, including the latest at 69-62 after an Elsir three-pointer with 1:47 left. Elsir scored 10 points during WNE's 26-14 run after its biggest deficit. Nichols, however, iced the win by making their last 10 free throws.

Western New England was able to enjoy a 33-30 edge on the glass behind seven rebounds apiece from co-captain Nick DeFeo (5 points) and Gelineau.

Nichols displayed very good ball movement evidenced by 21 assists on 27 made field goals. Langadas led the way with a game-high eight assists.

Western New England is back in action at 3 p.m. Saturday while playing on the road against Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy for a CCC matchup.

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